Living Better

A steady progress in fulfilling annual housing renovation targets for rundown urban areas is taking place in China, official data showed on October 15.

Construction began on 2.74 million homes in shantytowns in the first nine months of the year, or 94.8 percent of the annual target, according to the Ministry of Housing and Urban-rural Development.

The government plans to start renovation of 2.89 million homes in dilapidated urban areas by the end of 2019.

During the January-september period, more than 940 billion yuan ($133 billion) was invested in renovation projects, according to the ministry.

Shantytown transformation has been a priority for the government in recent years. China aims to renovate 15 million dilapidated homes from 2018 to 2020 to speed up its

The selected sites reflect the development of Chinese society from different aspects, including agriculture, education and industry, said Song Xinchao, deputy head of the NCHA.

The administration will take joint action with provincial-level authorities to enhance the protection and preservation of the sites, including restricting construction projects near the sites, assigning institutions to take charge of protection and clarifying the responsibilities of all relevant parties, Liu said.

The 762 major historical and cultural sites were approved at the State Council’s executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang in late September.

“For a country with a timehonored civilization like China, it is important to strengthen the protection of the cultural relics as a way to reinforce historical memory,” Li said.

This round of applications started in July 2018, with the symbolic and national significance of the cultural relics underlined during the selection process.